Coping
by SP22
Summary: Takes place after Robin leaves the team to team up with Slade. The team is taking the loss of their leader rather hard, especially Beast Boy. He seeks comfort in Raven, who reveals to him how difficult this has been for everyone by showing him inside her mind. The trust Raven has to reveal her vulnerabilities to Beast Boy grant them both some much-desired comfort.


This story takes place after Robin's first encounter with Slade.

It also references the episode where Beast Boy and Cyborg enter Raven's mind through the mirror in her room.

Raven X Beast Boy

9:05 P.M. Titan Tower

Beast Boy entered the tower in a fit of rage. "How could this happen!?" he yelled into an empty corridor, slamming his fist against the wall. It echoed. The Titan's tower felt emptier than usual. Incomplete.

The couch, which was usually accompanied by Cyborg, was vacant. The kitchen was void of its usual cheery Tamaranian. In fact, Beast Boy believed he was completely alone, that was, until his eyes adjusted to the darkness and fixated upon a hooded figure levitating in the corner of the room.

"Raven…" Beast Boy whispered in a defeated tone. He sulked as he made his way over to her.

"Raven, I can't believe this is happening. This _can't_ be happening…" He flopped beside her on the floor and buried his face in his hands.

"We can't change the truth. We can only accept it" Raven replied in a blunt, less than sympathetic tone.

"How can you say that Ray!?" The little green boy yelped in frustration.

This broke Raven's concentration and she descended from her seated position in midair to stand and face the green lump before her. "We can't force him to come back, Beast Boy…" This time her tone was softer, but it still did not seem to soothe him.

She was, of course, referring to their team leader, Robin, who, up until a few days ago was presumed missing, until the team discovered he had been apprenticing under their greatest rival, Slade. This left the team feeling lost, confused, angry and broken.

In the days following this discovery, the team had barely spoken. Starfire refused to come out of her room and could be heard sobbing from down the hallway. Cyborg took a different approach and was usually found cursing under his breath in his workshop about how he needed to be stronger- faster- better in time for their next encounter with Slade. Then there was Raven, who appeared to be seemingly unaffected by this— which disturbed Beast Boy greatly.

"Well, I can't just sit here and feel nothing like you do!" Beast Boy snapped, rising to his feet.

Raven was getting ready to turn and walk to her room, but his words held her back. All the meditation she had just completed couldn't dull the sharp pain those words inflicted on her. She turned to face him, her gaze sharp — "Do NOT presume to know how I feel!". She was getting ready to turn and walk away again when Beast Boy reached out and grabbed her wrist.

"I'm… sorry." Beast Boy sighed. "I guess I'm taking this harder than I thought…" He made his way to the couch, slumping down, hanging his head below his shoulders. Raven, still tempted to walk away, felt herself being pulled toward the couch herself. She sat down beside him and placed her hand over his. "We all are…" She whispered.

"It sure doesn't feel that way." Beast Boy let out a soft chuckle "I feel like I'm the only one losing my mind over this."

"We all cope in different ways," Raven replied. "Cyborg drowns himself in his work to distract from how he really feels. Starfire lets her emotions consume her… for better or worse. And you…" Raven shifted her gaze to meet Beast Boy, giving him a small smile "You wear your heart on your sleeve because you care so much about your friends."

Beast boy rubbed the back of his head. For someone who appeared to be so void of emotions, she had some pretty solid intuitions about them. "So… how do you cope?" He asked timidly.

Raven took a deep breath in. She could give him the simple answer. Meditation. Or, she could give him the real answer. In any other circumstance, Raven would have taken the easy way out. But she could feel how deeply Beast Boy was hurting and thought that taking the time to explain her emotions further might help them both to cope.

"I'll show you," she said, taking his hand and leading him down the hallway.

Beast Boy was surprised but didn't say anything out of fear she might change her mind. He quietly followed behind her. They reached her bedroom. Raven opened the door and entered, but Beast Boy resisted, stagnating at the entrance of the door. Raven only had one rule — NEVER go in her room. Raven saw this hesitation and tightened her grip on his hand, pulling him through the doorway. "I'll let it slide this time." She said jokingly.

Beast Boy took a look around. Raven's room, much like Raven herself, was dark and mysterious. He had been in her room once before, with Cyborg, but he had never really taken a good look at its contents. With dark heavy curtains blocking any light from the windows, the only light given off was from several candles scattered around the room. She had shelves of books and ancient artifacts. Raven was standing by the nightstand next to her bed, holding an item that looked familiar to him— a mirror. The mirror to Raven's mind. He had seen it once before. It was then that he realized the gravity of the situation. Unlike the first time he had entered Raven's mind through the mirror, she was about to _willingly_ show it to him, the place where she felt the most vulnerable.

"Are you sure you trust me?" He said softly. "I'm sure" She replied, grabbing his hand once more as the mirror consumed them both.

The inside of Raven's mind was an ever-changing fortress of her emotions. At times, it was her escape to tranquil solitude. During other times, it was the prison in which Raven confined herself. They stood on a narrow path that branched off into many different directions, each one a representation of a version of Raven herself. Though, unlike before, all but one of the paths appeared to be crumbling apart.

"Lead the way," He said.

Raven began walking down the only viable path. It was long and narrow with no barriers on either side. Below them, was a reddish black sea of an unknown substance. Ordinarily, Beast Boy would have inquired more about this but thought this was not the best time to do so. Although their path was straight, he could not see ahead of them. They were walking into darkness for what seemed like several minutes before he could make out a faint glimpse of light up ahead.

As they got closer, Raven slowed her pace. He could feel her palms get sweaty. She was scared of something, scared of what was up ahead. "You don't have to do this, you know that right?" He reminded her. "I know" she replied quickly and hastened her pace again. When they were about fifteen feet away, Beast Boy could finally make out what lied ahead. It was Raven, or rather, one of the versions of herself that reside inside her mind. This version of Raven had her arms and legs confined by chains. Her skin was even paler than the real Raven's, and instead of a dark blue cloak, she dawned a bright white one, which seemed to radiate the light around her.

"Which version of you is this?" Beast Boy asked, as politely as one could ask such thing.

"It's my soul." She replied, her voice shaking.

"Why is she chained up?" Beast Boy examined each of the chains and noticed that they were connected to four separate stones, which appeared to be floating off in different directions, forcing the limbs of the white-cloaked Raven to be pulled every which way.

"Each stone…" she began "represents something that I cherish."

Beast Boy took a closer look and noticed that each of the stones had a name engraved on it. Cyborg. Starfire. Robin. Beast Boy. These were the things that Raven cherished most.

"Then why—" He started but Raven continued "The chains appear when my connection to these stones is compromised."

"Compromised?" He asked, tilting his head in confusion.

"When Robin… left… I felt the rest of the team begin to drift apart. My soul's reaction was to try and hold onto them, even though it would cause me pain." Beast Boy began to notice the tears welling up in Raven's eyes as she stared at her soul. The white-cloaked Raven looked to be in agony as she was trying to pull the stones closer to her but the stones continued to pull away.

"Raven— I— I had no idea…" Beast Boy struggled to find the words he wanted to say. Before he could stutter any further, Raven closed her eyes and willed them both out of the mirror. He blinked and they were back in Raven's room. She took a seat on the bed, and he took a seat beside her, turning his body to face hers.

"So that's how you cope."

"I guess." She shrugged.

"I had no idea you were shouldering that kind of responsibility all by yourself." He looked into her eyes, tears beginning to form.

"Someone has to do it". She said in her normal blunt tone.

Beast Boy took her hand and held it. "But you don't have to do it alone," he said softly, pulling her into a hug.

He could feel several of her tears seep through his shirt. The two of them sat there in silence, embracing and offering comfort to one another.

Finally, Beast Boy pulled away and gently cupped the sides of Raven's face. He placed a kiss on her forehead and whispered: "We're going to get him back."

Raven let out a slow breath and repeated: "We're going to get him back".

_

End

Thanks for reading. I recently got back into the Teen Titans series and I don't know why I've never thought to write about this pairing before. This one was a bit sappier than I would have anticipated. But they can't all be one-shots.


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